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A three-part story inspired by Wagner's classic opera The Ring of the Nibelung! Siegfried, born of the love between a mortal man and a Valkyrie, is a young orphan being raised by Mime, one of the last of the dwarf-goblin Nibelungs, in a dark forest with only wolves for friends and family. While his foster parent only wants to live in peace and solitude, Siegfried yearns to discover who his real parents were and live amongst his own kind, not knowing that Odin, father of the Norse gods, has a destiny planned for him: to fight the dragon Fafnir, guardian of the Rheingold!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in 1974, Alex Alice possessed a passion for comics and animation from an early age. He began to develop graphic novel projects while at l’École Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. In 1993, he met Xavier Dorison, with whom he began to collaborate on Le Troisieme Testament (the Third Testament), a story of adventure and esoteric investigation across Europe in the Middle Ages influenced by the likes of Umberto Eco. The first volume of that series came out in 1997, published by Glénat. In addition to that series, Alice began developing Siegfried, a retelling of Norse myths as a graphic novel trilogy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

There isn't a single page in this book that I wouldn't be comfortable blowing up, framing, and hanging on my wall. These are some of the best illustrations I have ever seen. Period.

If you're here, you're probably here because you know Wagner's Ring cycle. If that's the case, then here's my recommendation:

If you're looking for a creative adaptation combining bits of the Norse mythology, bits of Wagner's adaptation, and bits of creative license, then this is worth your money.

If you're looking for a blow-by-blow adaptation of the operas, then I recommend P. Craig Russell's adaptation, which is practically a transcription from Wagner's stage directions.

Alex Alice adds flourishes that couldn't possibly make sense in a stage version and are perhaps a little too specific and personable for Norse myth. In this, Siegfried, neglected by Mime, is partially raised as the friend of a family of wolves. This idea adds a lot of life to the story, as well as a stunning - and wordless - touch of darkness.

Speaking of wordless, that's another interesting and wonderful thing about this book - there is no narration. The pictures tell the stories, and believe me, they do more than enough.

I can't say much about how the story was adapted because I'm not as familiar with Wagner's version of this story versus the Norse story it's based off of, but this is one of the most beautiful graphic novels I've seen in a very long time. It's given a terrific treatment and a reader can spend hours looking at the art inside several times over. The length of the book might be misleading, since there is a large chunk that is devoted to an interview with Alex Alice describing the development of the comic as well as the animated version.

Story-wise I think it's nicely paced, with interesting layouts, and even if you're unfamiliar with Wagner's Ring saga you won't be left confused about who's who and what's what. All the characters have appealing designs, and did I mention how gorgeous the art is? Well, it's gorgeous. The second volume can't come soon enough.

This book took me on a journey. I didn't feel like I was reading at all. I felt as though I was dreaming a high quality animated movie. It was like Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal combined with my old Conan comics. To then find out the rich history behind the tale was an added bonus.

I'm an avid comic book reader and I am rarely awe struck when picking up a new graphic novel by someone I've never heard of. By the time I was half way through this book, I was obsessed with Alex Alice and now that I've finished the second volume I can't wait for more.

The ART in this book is phenomenal, and the writing is fun and poetic. Characters are built, and legends are formed. It's everything I could ever want from a book.

Having never read the Volsungasagas and having never listened to the entire epic performance that is Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen," I purchased this book with limited knowledge about either opera or the actual Norse myths.

From previews of the artwork, I knew that I was going to love this comic, but I don't think I was actually prepared for how beautiful the pages are, how colorful and detailed the background of each scene is--from winter scenes to spring to two page spreads, all of it is wonderfully illustrated. Another thing that sold me was the characters' expressions; each one expertly conveyed the emotion felt by the character, and adequately transferred the emotions to me, the reader. I thought it was fantastic.

The pages are glossy and feel 'tough', if that makes any sense. The book is larger than I expected, which is fine because I love the large pages and the highly detailed art.. The cover is super nice too, and it just has an all-around great look.

I, personally, enjoyed the story as well. I looked it up after reading it and found that Siegfried is actually based on the third opera in Wagner's epic. I'm assuming the three books take after the three acts. From what I found out, I think the comic plays fairly close to the opera, though I know Alice has stated in one of his interviews that he does plan to deviate a bit. I'm excited for the next installment.Read more ›

Warning: If you are looking for a graphic novel that is faithful to Wagner's 4-opera Der Ring des Niebelungen cycle, this isn't it. Your needs will be better met by P. Craig Russell's The Ring of the Niebelung. This first volume in a projected 3-volume series incorporates and compresses the material in the first and third operas, Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) and Siegfried. No doubt, the missing parts of Siegfried will appear in the next volume. It was never the intention of author/artist Alex Alice to be faithful to Wagner. After all, Wagner wasn't faithful to the source materials so why should he be faithful to Wagner? He took the source materials, the Nordic Volsunga Saga and the Germanic Niebelungenlied, added some but not all of Wagner's changes, then added quite a few changes of his own. As a result, he has told the heroic myth that he wanted to tell, not someone else's version. The core of the story is the same but the details are different. For example, in Wagner Siegfried is the child of incest between the humans Sieglinde and her brother Siegmund. In this story he is the child of a different kind of forbidden love, between the Valkyrie Sieglinde and an unnamed human. Siegfried is the viewpoint character so most of it unfolds as he sees it. The plot is straightforward. A man runs through the woods carrying his pregnant lover, fleeing the wrath of Wotan, chief of the Norse gods (who is never actually named in the book). When confronted, the man attacks the god. His sword is shattered and he is killed. Wotan rips out Sieglinde's heart for the crime of forbidden love as another valkyrie dressed all in white on a white horse looks on. This is all in a 9-page prolog without dialog. The scene shifts to a valkyrie all in white asking a niebelung volva (shamaness) to tell her of Siegfried's past.Read more ›